Jul 16 2008
Jewish Quarter History
Jewish Quarter History
The history of the Jewish people s in Prague is closely related to Josefov, the Jewish Ghetto not far from the Old Town, as far back as the 10th century. Now Josefov is nice district, with contains many historic information about Jewish history in Prague.
The Jewish Quarter (Josefov) is a small district close to old Town Square. The district coats the area between the square and Vltava River. One of the oldest still existing synagogues in Europe – the Old-New Synagogue – and the Old Jewish Cemetery are located there. They were built approximately in the 15th century.
The first notes about Jewish settlements in Prague go back to the 10th century. Current area, known as Josefov, was settled in mid 12 th century. At that time it was not a ghetto. Moreover similar settlements were also established in Prague at that time, for example of German merchants.
Though the Jews of that time prospered and lived in relative friendship and peace with their neighbors the crusades of the 11th century brought a tidal wave of sorrow. The synagogues were burned to the ground, the civil rights of Jews were strictly limited and they were forced to build their community on the right bank of the Vltava only. All those facts were the beginning of what later came to be known as the ‘Jewish Ghetto’.. Later in the 13th century there were anti-Jewish storms, initiated by edicts of Fourth Council of the Lateran (the biggest Catholic council of the middle ages). However, the Jews in Prague were protected by the king, because they paid taxes.
In late 1500’s one smart and successful Jewish man named Mordecai Maisel became Minister of Finance and injected funds into Josefov. He provided recourses to build the Jewish Town Hall, the Maisel Synagogue, the High Synagogue and other buildings in Josefov. Moreover he paid for his name to be named and paved in his honor. It was called Maisalova Street.
The 17th century is considered to be the Golden Age of Jewish Prague. The Jewish community of Prague had reached some 15,000 people. It was approximately 30 percent of the entire population of the city that time. It made the Jewish community in Prague the largest Ashkenazic community in the world and the second largest community in Europe after Thessaloniki. From 1597 till 1609, the Maharal (Judah Loew ben Bezalel) served as Prague’s chief rabbi.
During the 1800’s it was estimated that the Jewish quarter had the largest Jewish population in the whole Europe. In 1850, the Jewish quarter was incorporated into the city and was named Josefstadt (Joseph’s city) in honor of Emperor Joseph II. Emperor Joseph belonged to Austrian Empire which ruled over what is now the Czech Republic in the 18th century. Joseph II was an enlightened monarch who gave the Jews in Prague their civil rights in 1781 when he issued the Toleration Edict. This edict rescinded the old rules that required the Jews to wear distinctive caps or the yellow Star of David on their clothing. That discriminating law had been in effect since the 11th century.
The Jews actively participated in the revolutionary activity throughout Europe in 1848 which finally brought equal rights for the Jews; the walls of the ghetto were torn down, allowing the Jews to live anywhere in the city of Prague. This fact caused a number of violent anti-Semitic protests by the Czechs in Prague. Meanwhile granting the equal rights to the Jews, they were also pressured to assimilate in to the local culture, instead of maintaining their separate one.
During the Second World War, while most Jewish communities across the country were wiped out, Prague’s Jewish community was permitted to preserve its treasures. However, many of the Jewish people in Prague and across the Czech Republic were sent to concentration camps where they died. Hitler’s final goal was to preserve the Jewish Quarter to be “The Museum of the Extinct Jewish Race”.
In our days it is difficult to estimate the size of the Jewish community left in the Czech Republic and Prague. Some days ago it was the largest Jewish community in Europe. Now they are among the smallest. The history of the Czech Jews has been unique and tragic. But it left behind itself proof of their historical significance to this part of Europe.
Nowadays the area of Josefov is frequently visited by tourists staying in the near Prague hotels near Jewish Quarter.